Fake Robbery, Real Time: CU Thief Sentenced

⏱ 2 min read

Nicole Hilstolsky, 48, of Swoyersville, Pennsylvania, is headed to federal prison for eight months. She didn’t need a gun or a mask, just a lie. Back on October 15, 2018, Hilstolsky, then an employee of the now-defunct WOD Federal Credit Union, lifted $16,247 from the teller and safe, then dialed 911 claiming she’d been robbed by two armed men. The scheme? To cover her tracks and pocket the cash.

It was a clumsy play from the start. Hilstolsky spun the fabricated tale to responding Forty Fort police, buying herself time. But instead of making a clean getaway, she stashed the stolen money inside the credit union, intending to retrieve it a few days later. A desperate move that proved to be her undoing.

The FBI and Forty Fort PD weren’t buying it. Investigators quickly peeled back the layers of deception, exposing Hilstolsky’s inside job. The investigation revealed no evidence of any actual robbery. She pleaded guilty, trading a confession for a lighter sentence than she likely would have received had the case gone to trial.

Senior U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani handed down the eight-month sentence today, followed by two years of supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney James M. Buchanan led the prosecution, securing the conviction and ensuring Hilstolsky will answer for her brazen act of theft.